Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Music

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Tokyo trance

In fad driven Japan, it’s somewhat surprising that ParaPara dancing is still alive and kicking, the combination of complicated arm movements and abominable Eurobeat backing somehow securing a place in the hearts of its predominantly female practitioners. The video below amply demonstrating the manic movements and monotonous music synonymous with the trend.

Yet in male dominated Japan, such sanitised shenanigans is simply no good, so one enterprising individual has made the most of ParaPara’s predominantly upper body undulations. The crafty addition of massive animated mammaries creating a hypnotic if not exactly wholesome effect.

(video via Japan Sugoi)

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Gaming gambit

Whilst pachinko is by far Japan’s biggest bastion of gambling — raking in over 30 trillion yen a year — the ball bearing-based game appears to be on the slide, with less and less people frequenting the nation’s numerous ‘parlours’. A peak of 30 million patrons in 1994 dropping to a still substantial but far less healthy 17 million just over 10 years later.

Plus with the majority of such places looking something like the one below, it’s perhaps not that surprising — smoky surrounds and the smell of stale coffee further adding to their less than alluring nature.

Japanese pachinko parlour

Japanese pachinko machine maker Sankyo however has obviously sensed something needs to be done, and opted to sex-up proceedings somewhat — a soon to be released machine based around sultry songstress Kumi Koda aiming to persuade at least some punters to return.

Kumi Koda

A ploy that may work considering Koda’s immense popularity in Japan at the moment, quite possibly resulting in swathes of middle-aged men frantically fiddling with their balls in the vain hope that a few strokes of luck will help them get the big one they desire, whilst at the same time desperately hoping they don’t blow their budget too quickly.

Kumi Koda

Or at least something along those lines.

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Tokyo troubadours

There are a humongous number of hostess bars in Japan, where stressed out salary men can go and have their egos (and maybe even more) massaged — provided of course they pay the generally far from piffling price.

Of late however, Japanese ladies appear to have decided that they too should fritter away vast sums of money on false affection, with host clubs increasing in both numbers and notoriety. The almost criminal amounts of cash some women spend on their favoured fella being a steady source of material for sensationalist TV shows and tabloids.

Tokyo host club

Yet these meticulously turned out and not especially masculine men are now increasingly branching out into other forms of entertainment, with a host from one Tokyo establishment forming Club Prince.

Tokyo hosts

A hugely talented pop group that amply proves they are far more than just preening and pristinely plucked poseurs.

Perhaps.

(video via Japan Probe)

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Tokyo talent

Japan’s rapidly ageing population and stubbornly low birth rate have all sorts of implications, with economic growth in the future and pension payments probably topping the list. Yet these seismic societal shifts will also have a huge impact on the nation’s entertainment industry, which by and large supports itself with young ladies who make up for whatever they lack in ability with other, more eye catching attributes.

kumi koda

A change that some people argue may in the end be beneficial, as talent rather than titillation will eventually become the mainstay of the Japanese entertainment and music industry. But in a land where appearance is everything, poster and calendar producers in particular remain unconvinced, as regardless of the wonders of soft lighting and computer wizardry, images of guitar goddess Mari Goto and her ilk may simply not appeal to the masses — regardless of how old they are.

japanese guitar goddess

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iPod preservation

Japan may well be one of the biggest importers of timber, diligently decimating the world’s remaining rainforests, but in this more ecologically aware era, it’s nice to know that efforts are being made to at least use the wood more sensibly — these rather unusual iPod cases produced by Japanese company Asuka Koubou attempting to savvily save the environment by using up the scraps.

Cleverly combining ecological concern and cool.

wood ipod case japan


Or at least the former, as covering the iPod’s sleek contours with a piece of wood makes it look not too dissimilar to grandma’s old transistor radio — albeit a bit smaller.

wood ipod cover japan

Although that said, they are apparently very popular, so it just goes to show how much I know.